Donald Trump profile: Why he wouldn't disappear from American politics

His critics are baffled, aghast and disbelieving that Trump is back and may very well become the President of the United States again. The billionaire's hate-filled propaganda against immigrants, violent remarks targetting political opponents, and his incapacity to handle a defeat, make them nervous.

What’s more, the 78-year-old politician has racked up thirty-four felony convictions, and is charged with fraud, election subversion, and obstruction. Twenty-six women have accused him of sexual misconduct and in one case involving a journalist and columnist, E Jean Carroll, the jury has found him liable for sexually abusing her in 1996.

But, they cannot seem to wish him away as a sizable number of Americans have reposed faith in him again and voted for him. So, what makes Trump the kind of fighter he is, what were his early influences and why does he refuse to disappear from American politics? And critically, what's his appeal to American voters?

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The idol

Born in Queens, Trump is the middle-child of five children. The son of an immigrant mother from Scotland, Trump was heavily influenced by his father. There is a theory that he was scared of his father and towed the line with fear.

His father Fred Trump was a successful real estate developer who made his money from building low-cost, affordable housing in Brooklyn and Queens.

According to staffers who worked for his father, Trump saw him as his “idol” . His father instilled in him very early on his life, a deep drive to win at all costs. According to the autobiographies he wrote, 'The Art of the Deal' and 'Trump Revealed', Trump admits he was mischievous as a child and liked to “stir things up”.

His parents sent him off to study in a New York military school, when he was just 13 years old and that experience too seems to have moulded him into the person he is today.

Military school

Trump in interviews has called it a “good training” and ostensibly liked the school. But journalists tracking his childhood claimed that it was a place where “physical brutality and verbal abuse” was tolerated and Trump thrived in such an atmosphere.

It fired up his competitive nature, and he told his fellow mates that he would be famous one day. According to journalists, the seeds of the quality – that he will do anything to win – was sown in here.

After leaving military school, he started to work in his father’s real estate business, and also went on to study in the University of Pennsylvania.

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Fight rather than fold

In the 70s, while working with his dad, the Justice Department slapped a housing discrimination suit against Trump management for not providing rentals to blacks and immigrants in their buildings. 

Trump denies this allegation and turned the lawsuit into a long battle. He alleged character assassination and turned on the government accusing them of trying to force him to rent to “welfare recipients” and filed a $100 million countersuit accusing the Justice Department of defamation. This is how he would react to any allegation against him, said journalists tracking his career. (In the end, when it was over, Trump said the consent decree he ultimately signed did not include an admission of guilt.)

He always preferred to “fight rather than fold” as he would often say. 

Trump was also driven by an craving to be known and be in the spotlight. Though, he has often said, ‘I have been trending all my life since the time I was born’,  he loved the limelight. By this time, he also moved on to focus on building glitzy, luxury Manhattan projects.

Tabloid hero

The famed Fifth Avenue became home to his 50 something storeyed Trump Tower, arguably the mogul's most famous property and his home for many years.

Other properties like casinos, condominiums, golf courses and hotels, bearing the Trump name opened in different cities like Atlantic City, Chicago, Las Vegas and even in Turkey and Philippines.

Since he loved being surrounded by women, he bought over beauty pageants. His flashy lifestyle attracted New York city tabloids and he was often on their covers. He also famously appeared on Playboy cover. 

Trump opened a travel and tourism site, a winery, a mortage company, men’s clothing line, Trump ice water, and even an airline. All of which folded up. Most of them he never owned but had licensed his name out, which had become a brand by then. Though, he was grappling with bankruptcies he still managed to convince people that he was leading the fantasty life.

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Reality TV star

What made him a household name and shot him into the limelight really was the reality show The Apprentice in 2004.

Over 14 seasons, he presided over the Apprentice contestants as the Boss. They had to compete for a management contract in his business empire, and his trademark "You're fired!" line (which he used on his current opponent Kamala Harrris) became a signature line. The show had 10s of millions of viewers, and elevated his name. It was his launch to running for president, say political analysts.

He was a showman who was entertaining people but also building his image as a successful and ruthless businessman.

Trump started to flirt with politics when he challenged presidential candidate Barrack Obama’s citizenship in 2008. It was clearly an “overt display of rascism” but it also coincided with a sharp decline in the ratings of his show.

In 2015, he ran for presidency. "I have so many rich friends and nobody knows who they are," was one of his reasonings for doing so.